“We went back to Matt, and he came up with the balcony underneath the roof which is absolutely brilliant” – David Johnstone


MATT’S TOP TIP


• “Never scrimp on windows, especially in a severely exposed location”


the ‘red box,’ which is effectively a bay window [in aluminium] with an internal bench seat that forms part of the dining nook. “It originated from a very early sketch that we did,” says Matt. “We drew the living room and said that we wanted it to look out over the countryside – and we coloured it in on the sketch. It led us to think ‘what happens if we did actually mark that part out in colour? It’s playful and enjoyable to look at, and from an environmental point of view it’s really good because at the end of its life, you can melt it down and reuse it.” Internally, the splay allows the views to be seen as wide as possible. David enthuses: “The red box is all from Matt, and I love it. Everyone comments on it, and internally the design affords us more room in the living area. The installers constructed it all on site, did all the folding, and it was great to watch.”


Material savings were also made internally with cleverly considered design decisions such as the staircase which in itself is a piece of architecture. Here, the biggest cost was the design aspect


jan/feb 2023


of the staircase rather than the actual materials and build time. “It’s a standard off the shelf stair,” says Matt. “We designed the handrails and specified the floor finishes to make sure they complemented each other. It was reasonably inexpensive to build, but we invested design time in it to make sure it drew the light down from the top of the house.” Longer term savings were made with the installation of an air source heat pump, a highly insulated shell, triple glaing and underfloor heating. “Never scrimp on windows,” Matt cautions. “Especially in a severely exposed location such as this. These decisions are what save you money in the long run. Likewise, financially the heat pump was a good sustainable option with the schemes that were available at the time.”


REACHING OUT While there weren’t many changes made to the original design, there was one development that occurred during the construction phase, and


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